Mewzings: Way Off Broadway

One of the fun things we got to do in Maine was visit the Ogunquit Playhouse for a fabulous presentation of the musical Anything Goes! First, let's talk about the theatre, and then I'll tell you about the show!

This is my photo from show night:

Here is a stock photo from the magical internet:

The Ogunquit Playhouse was born in the summer of 1933. You can read more about its history by clicking here.

Many famous performers have graced the stage. Here is an internet photo of part of the massive collection of photos in the lobby.

If you are interested in seeing the names of the entire list of performers, click on this link: Cast of Stars Full List: and select Cast Archive at the lower left of the article.

If you are a lover of Broadway Theatre, and you ever have the chance to attend a show at The Ogunquit Playhouse, grab the chance! We lucked into 2 tickets on the aisle in the 3rd row for about $75 each. That is a DEAL for great seats at a B-way quality show! This is what we saw on Wednesday, June 22:

The lead was Andrea McArdle - most famous as the girl who originated the role of Annie in the Broadway production of Little Orphan Annie in 1977. She became the youngest star ever to be nominated for a Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Musical.

Here she is in this production:

Here she is with my FAVORITE performer in the show, Ray DeMattis who played Moonface Martin. He is an amazing showman. I was facinated by watching his reactions and facial expressions even when he wasn't directly the focus of a scene. He is always "in character" which is one thing that my young actors sometimes had trouble understanding the importance of. He sings, he dances and he acts - that is known as a Triple Threat in theatre!

Here is a cast photo of the cast we saw:

Noteworthy as well were Sally Struthers and her own cute little dog! Sally played the matron Evangeline Harcourt who is known for carrying her dog Cheeky around with her. Sally was absolutely delightful in this role! Her dog was Little Bradford T. Kenney who Sally adopted 2 years ago in New Hampshire when she was working in another show at The Playhouse. He is a 4 year old Cairn terrier. He was rescued from a kill shelter in Kansas and trucked with 59 other dogs to New Hampshire for adoption. He was the only one left when Sally got there! This is his stage debut, and the audience loved him every time he was on stage!

Anything Goes is set on a cruise ship. There is much singing and dancing, and the whole show is fast and fun. Here are some photos of the dancers:

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention another actor in the show - Josh Canfield who played the leading role of Billy Crocker. Josh is probably most famous from the TV show Survivor. Josh was very good - certainly professional quality, but his performance didn't really excite me as some of the others did. He has a long list of professional credits, but he both looked and sounded like Matthew Morrison from Glee, and I think that fact distracted me from appreciating him for the performer that he is.

Here are some photos of him from this show and Survivor: